Conformal antenna structure and electronic device

Abstract

The application relates to a conformal antenna structure and an electronic device, wherein the conformal antenna structure comprises a UWB signal source, a UWB radiation array, an NFC signal source, a radiation coil and a matching inductor, the UWB signal source is arranged in the UWB radiation array, the UWB radiation array is connected in series to the radiation coil through the matching inductor, and the radiation coil is connected with the NFC signal source as an NFC radiation array. The antenna multiplexing between the UWB signal source and the NFC signal source saves the structural space, and solves the problem that the arrangement of the UWB antenna and the NFC antenna occupies a large space.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of radio transmission technology, and in particular to a conformal antenna structure and electronic device. Background Technology

[0002] With the development of the era of the Internet of Things, digital keys have become a standard component in the networked ecosystem. Digital keys allow users to deposit, authorize, or share keys in a secure and remote manner. UWB antennas have seen rapid development in the past two years, with many terminal manufacturers starting to equip their flagship models with UWB antennas, primarily for short-range, precise positioning. NFC antennas, as a near-field application antenna, are frequently used in conjunction with smartphones as keys. Currently, the common design approach is to place the UWB antenna and NFC antenna in different locations on the device, occupying a significant amount of space.

[0003] There is currently no effective solution to the above problems. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a conformal antenna structure and electronic device to solve the aforementioned technical problem of "placing the UWB antenna and NFC antenna in different locations on the device, which occupies a large amount of space".

[0005] According to one aspect of the embodiments of this application, this application provides a conformal antenna structure, including: a UWB signal source, a UWB radiating element, an NFC signal source, a radiating coil, and a matching inductor, wherein the UWB signal source is disposed within the UWB radiating element, the UWB radiating element is connected in series to the radiating coil through the matching inductor, and the radiating coil is connected to the NFC signal source as an NFC radiating element.

[0006] Optionally, a matching inductor is used to allow NFC signals from the NFC signal source to flow through the radiating coil, and to prevent UWB signals from the UWB signal source from flowing to the radiating coil.

[0007] Optionally, the UWB radiating element is matched with the radiation frequency of the UWB signal source.

[0008] Optionally, the radiation frequency of the UWB signal source is 6.5 GHz.

[0009] Optionally, the conformal antenna structure includes a copper foil covering the surfaces of the UWB radiating element and the NFC radiating element.

[0010] Optionally, the NFC radiating element is obtained by adjusting the number of coils in the radiating coil until the radiating coil resonates at the resonant frequency of the NFC signal source.

[0011] Optionally, the resonant frequency of the NFC signal source is 13.56MHz.

[0012] Optionally, the conformal antenna structure also includes a matching capacitor, which is disposed between the UWB signal source and the radiating coil.

[0013] Optionally, a matching capacitor is used to prevent signal flow between the UWB signal source and the NFC signal source.

[0014] According to another aspect of the embodiments of this application, this application provides an electronic device including the conformal antenna structure described above.

[0015] Compared with related technologies, the technical solutions provided in this application have the following advantages:

[0016] This application discloses a conformal antenna structure, comprising: a UWB signal source, a UWB radiating element, an NFC signal source, a radiating coil, and a matching inductor. The UWB signal source is housed within the UWB radiating element, which is connected in series to the radiating coil via the matching inductor. The radiating coil serves as the NFC radiating element and is connected to the NFC signal source. By multiplexing the antennas between the UWB and NFC signal sources, structural space is saved, solving the problem of the large space occupied by the placement of UWB and NFC antennas. Attached Figure Description

[0017] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with this application and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this application.

[0018] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application or related technologies, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments or related technologies will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of an optional conformal antenna structure provided according to an embodiment of this application;

[0020] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of another optional conformal antenna structure provided according to an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0021] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of this application clearer, the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this application, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0022] In the following description, the use of suffixes such as "module," "part," or "unit" to denote elements is solely for the purpose of illustration and has no specific meaning in itself. Therefore, "module" and "part" may be used interchangeably.

[0023] First, some nouns or terms that appear in the description of the embodiments of this application shall be interpreted as follows:

[0024] UWB (Ultra Wide Band): is a wireless carrier communication technology that does not use sinusoidal carriers but instead transmits data using nanosecond-level non-sinusoidal narrow pulses, thus occupying a very wide spectrum. UWB technology has advantages such as low system complexity, low transmitted signal power spectral density, insensitivity to channel fading, low interception capability, and high positioning accuracy, making it particularly suitable for high-speed wireless access in dense multipath environments such as indoor spaces.

[0025] NFC (Near Field Communication) is an emerging technology that allows devices (such as mobile phones) to exchange data when they are close to each other. It evolved from contactless radio frequency identification and interconnection technologies. By integrating inductive card readers, inductive cards, and peer-to-peer communication functions on a single chip, it enables mobile payments, electronic ticketing, access control, mobile identity recognition, anti-counterfeiting, and other applications using mobile terminals.

[0026] With the development of the era of the Internet of Things, digital keys have become a standard component in the networked ecosystem. Digital keys allow users to deposit, authorize, or share keys in a secure and remote manner. UWB antennas have seen rapid development in the past two years, with many terminal manufacturers starting to equip their flagship models with UWB antennas, primarily for short-range, precise positioning. NFC antennas, as a near-field application antenna, are frequently used in conjunction with smartphones as keys. Currently, the common design approach is to place the UWB antenna and NFC antenna in different locations on the device, occupying a significant amount of space.

[0027] To address the problems mentioned in the background art, according to one aspect of an embodiment of this application, a conformal antenna structure is provided, such as... Figure 1 As shown, it includes:

[0028] UWB signal source 11, UWB radiating element 12, NFC signal source 13, radiating coil 14, and matching inductor 15.

[0029] The UWB signal source 11 is located within the UWB radiating array 12. The UWB radiating array 12 is connected in series to the radiating coil 14 via a matching inductor 15 (including matching inductor 151 and matching inductor 152). The radiating coil 14 is connected to the NFC signal source 13 as the NFC radiating array 16.

[0030] This application is applied to the field of radio transmission, and particularly to the structural design of coexisting antennas.

[0031] An antenna is a transducer that transforms guided waves propagating on a transmission line into electromagnetic waves propagating in an unbounded medium, or vice versa. Simply put, it is an instrument used to transmit radio signals and to radiate and receive electromagnetic waves. Antennas can make the signals received and transmitted by a wireless transceiver stronger.

[0032] Specifically, the embodiment provided in this application integrates a UWB antenna and an NFC antenna into a conformal antenna. First, the UWB radiating element is determined based on the radiation parameters of the UWB antenna. Then, a matching inductor is used to connect the UWB radiating element and the radiating coil. Next, the NFC radiating element is obtained by adjusting the number of coils in the radiating coil. Finally, the antenna element is loaded with both NFC and UWB signal sources, and the parameters of the matching inductor are adjusted to achieve the multiplexing effect of the dual excitation sources of the NFC and UWB antennas sharing the same antenna, as well as source isolation.

[0033] Antenna design is indispensable in hardware design schemes during the interconnection phase. In the past, smart terminals were used in combination with NFC as digital keys. This application adds UWB functionality to NFC to achieve a certain distance (e.g., 10 meters) for searching, positioning, and seamless unlocking.

[0034] Preferably, the matching inductor is used to allow the NFC signal emitted by the NFC signal source in the radiating coil to flow, and to prevent the UWB signal from the UWB signal source from flowing to the radiating coil.

[0035] After generating the UWB radiating element, matching inductors are used to connect the UWB radiating element to the radiating coil. Specifically, two matching inductors are used to connect the UWB signal source to the radiating coil of the antenna that will serve as the NFC signal source. At this point, the UWB signal source and the UWB radiating element can be simply considered as a single point existing in the NFC antenna. The NFC signal can continue to flow through the NFC radiating element via the matching inductors, while the UWB signal is blocked by the matching inductors and cannot flow to the NFC radiating element.

[0036] From the perspective of the NFC antenna, since the NFC signal is a low-frequency signal, it needs to be physically connected to the radiator of the UWB antenna. The NFC signal flows to the first inductor, then to the UWB radiating element, and then flows out of the second inductor from the UWB radiating element back to the NFC antenna.

[0037] From the perspective of UWB antennas, the presence of matching inductors prevents UWB signals from flowing to the radiating coils, thus providing signal isolation.

[0038] Preferably, the UWB radiating element is matched with the radiation frequency of the UWB signal source.

[0039] The UWB radiation array is designed by calculating the radiation frequency of the UWB signal source.

[0040] Optionally, the first step is to obtain the radiation frequency of the UWB antenna, which can be done using instruments such as a network analyzer or a frequency sweeper.

[0041] The radiation frequency of the UWB antenna is obtained, and the radiation wavelength of the UWB antenna is determined using the radiation frequency; the electrical length of the UWB antenna is determined using the radiation wavelength, so as to generate a UWB radiating element.

[0042] The formula for calculating the wavelength of radiation from the radiation frequency is:

[0043] λ=V / f

[0044] Where V is the propagation speed of electromagnetic waves, measured in meters per second, λ is the wavelength, and f is the frequency of electromagnetic waves, measured in Hertz.

[0045] The electrical length of an antenna is inversely proportional to the radiation frequency. The higher the radiation frequency, the shorter the electrical length, and the shorter the physical length of the antenna can be.

[0046] Preferably, in the embodiments of this application, the radiation frequency of the UWB signal source is 6.5 GHz.

[0047] Optionally, generating a UWB radiating element also requires consideration of spatial structure requirements. The specific spatial structure requirements depend on the actual needs of generating the antenna and require miniaturization design, i.e., occupying as little space as possible. For example, the requirement of the conformal antenna in this application is to design a conformal symbiotic antenna between the UWB antenna and the NFC antenna.

[0048] Preferably, the conformal antenna structure includes a copper foil covering the surfaces of the UWB radiating element and the NFC radiating element.

[0049] Specifically, copper foil has excellent applications in electromagnetic shielding and related antistatic applications.

[0050] Preferably, the NFC radiating element is obtained by adjusting the number of coils in the radiating coil until the radiating coil resonates at the resonant frequency of the NFC signal source.

[0051] By adjusting the number of coils in the radiating coil using the NFC radiation parameters of the NFC antenna, an NFC radiating array that satisfies the resonance condition is obtained.

[0052] Specifically, the resonant frequency of the NFC antenna is obtained, as well as the excitation frequency generated by the winding of the radiating coil is detected; the number of windings of the radiating coil is adjusted until the excitation frequency reaches the resonant frequency, thus obtaining an NFC radiating element that satisfies the resonance condition.

[0053] Optionally, the radiating coil is formed by winding a thin wire, and the shape can be rectangular, square, or elliptical. Regardless of the shape, the number of coils must be adjusted until the excitation frequency of the radiating coil reaches the resonant frequency of the NFC antenna.

[0054] Most antennas have a specific operating frequency range that meets electrical performance requirements. Typically, the antenna delivers the most power when operating at its center frequency, and the power delivered decreases as it deviates from the center frequency. The resonant frequency of an NFC antenna can be considered the optimal receiving frequency for the NFC signal source.

[0055] When the excitation frequency generated by the radiating coil is equal to the resonant frequency of the NFC antenna, the amplitude of the electromagnetic oscillation generated by the radiating coil will also reach its peak value.

[0056] Preferably, the resonant frequency of the NFC signal source is 13.56MHz.

[0057] Preferably, the conformal antenna structure further includes a matching capacitor, which is disposed between the UWB signal source and the radiating coil.

[0058] Preferably, the matching capacitor is used to prevent signal flow between the UWB signal source and the NFC signal source.

[0059] When adjusting the parameters of the matching inductor, the capacitance parameters of the matching capacitor should be adjusted simultaneously. Therefore, after designing the UWB antenna and NFC antenna respectively, a matching capacitor needs to be added, positioned at a point between the UWB signal source and the radiating coil (i.e., the NFC antenna), to isolate signal flow between the UWB and NFC signal sources. Without a matching capacitor, the UWB signal source can be considered equivalent to a connection point of the NFC antenna; therefore, a matching capacitor is needed to short-circuit the high-frequency signal and prevent signal transmission from the 6.5GHz signal source to the NFC antenna.

[0060] Matching capacitors can isolate the flow of NFC signals and UWB signals, thereby achieving source isolation.

[0061] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the conformal antenna structure provided in this application. The UWB 6.5 / 8GHz antenna feed in the figure is the aforementioned UWB signal source. The UWB 6.5 / 8GHz antenna radiating element U1 in the figure is the aforementioned UWB radiating element. The UWB antenna matching inductor L1 and UWB antenna matching inductor L2 in the figure are the aforementioned matching inductors. The UWB antenna matching capacitor C1 in the figure is the aforementioned matching capacitor. The NFC 13.56MHz antenna radiating element U2 in the figure is the aforementioned NFC radiating element. The NFC 13.56MHz antenna signal source in the figure is the aforementioned NFC signal source.

[0062] This application discloses a conformal antenna structure, comprising: a UWB signal source, a UWB radiating element, an NFC signal source, a radiating coil, and a matching inductor. The UWB signal source is housed within the UWB radiating element, which is connected in series to the radiating coil via the matching inductor. The radiating coil serves as the NFC radiating element and is connected to the NFC signal source. By multiplexing the antennas between the UWB and NFC signal sources, structural space is saved, solving the problem of the large space occupied by the placement of UWB and NFC antennas.

[0063] According to another aspect of the embodiments of this application, this application provides an electronic device including the conformal antenna structure described above.

[0064] In specific implementation, the embodiments of this application can be referred to the above embodiments and have corresponding technical effects.

[0065] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0066] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0067] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0068] If the aforementioned function is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the embodiments of this application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or a part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, ROM, RAM, magnetic disks, or optical disks. It should be noted that in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. In the absence of further restrictions, an element defined by the phrase "comprising a..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0069] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, enabling those skilled in the art to understand or implement this application. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of this application. Therefore, this application is not to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features claimed herein.

Claims

1. A conformal antenna structure, characterized in that, include: The system comprises a UWB signal source, a UWB radiating element, an NFC signal source, a radiating coil, and a matching inductor. The UWB signal source is located within the UWB radiating element. The UWB radiating element is connected in series to the radiating coil via the matching inductor. The radiating coil is connected to the NFC signal source as an NFC radiating element. The NFC signal flows through a first inductor to the UWB radiating element, and then flows out of the UWB radiating element from a second inductor back to the NFC antenna. The matching inductor includes both the first inductor and the second inductor.

2. The conformal antenna structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, The matching inductor is used to allow the NFC signal emitted by the NFC signal source in the radiating coil to flow through, and to prevent the UWB signal of the UWB signal source from flowing to the radiating coil.

3. The conformal antenna structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, The UWB radiating element is matched with the radiation frequency of the UWB signal source.

4. The conformal antenna structure according to claim 3, characterized in that, The radiation frequency of the UWB signal source is 6.5 GHz.

5. The conformal antenna structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, The conformal antenna structure includes a copper foil covering the surfaces of the UWB radiating element and the NFC radiating element.

6. The conformal antenna structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, The NFC radiation element is obtained by adjusting the number of coils in the radiation coil until the radiation coil resonates at the resonant frequency of the NFC signal source.

7. The conformal antenna structure according to claim 6, characterized in that, The resonant frequency of the NFC signal source is 13.56MHz.

8. The conformal antenna structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, The conformal antenna structure also includes a matching capacitor, which is disposed between the UWB signal source and the radiating coil.

9. The conformal antenna structure according to claim 8, characterized in that, The matching capacitor is used to prevent signal flow between the UWB signal source and the NFC signal source.

10. An electronic device, characterized in that, Includes the conformal antenna structure as described in any one of claims 1 to 9.

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